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A Stirling engine is a heat engine that is operated by the cyclic expansion and contraction of air or other gas (the working fluid) by exposing it to different temperatures, resulting in a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. [1] [2]
The Stirling cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the general class of Stirling devices. This includes the original Stirling engine that was invented, developed and patented in 1816 by Robert Stirling with help from his brother, an engineer .
It was originally developed around 1900 for the twin-cylinder Lanchester car engine where it allowed perfect balancing of the inertial forces on both pistons. A current example of its use is on beta type-Stirling engines; the drive's complexity and tight tolerances, causing a high cost of manufacture, is a hurdle for the widespread usage of this drive.
An external combustion engine (EC engine) is a reciprocating heat engine where a working fluid, contained internally, is heated by combustion in an external source, through the engine wall or a heat exchanger. The fluid then, by expanding and acting on the mechanism of the engine, produces motion and usable work. [1]
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A Stirling engine eliminates the need for water anywhere in the cycle. This would have advantages for nuclear installations in dry regions. United States government labs have developed a modern Stirling engine design known as the Stirling radioisotope generator for use in space exploration. It is designed to generate electricity for deep space ...
Ray-traced image of a piston engine. There may be one or more pistons. Each piston is inside a cylinder, into which a gas is introduced, either already under pressure (e.g. steam engine), or heated inside the cylinder either by ignition of a fuel air mixture (internal combustion engine) or by contact with a hot heat exchanger in the cylinder (Stirling engine).
The Ericsson cycle is often compared with the Stirling cycle, since the engine designs based on these respective cycles are both external combustion engines with regenerators. The Ericsson is perhaps most similar to the so-called "double-acting" type of Stirling engine, in which the displacer piston also acts as the power piston.